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Shining light on the dark side of big data

Does the shift toward more data and algorithmic direction for our business decisions assure us that organizations and businesses are operating to everyone's advantage? There are a number of issues involved that some people feel need to be addressed going forward.

Numbers don't lie, or do they? Perhaps the fact that they are perceived to be absolutely objective is what makes us accept the determinations of algorithms without questioning what factors could have shaped the outcome.

“The models
being used today are opaque, unregulated, and uncontestable, even when they’re
wrong.” The math destruction posed by algorithms is
the result of models that reinforces barriers, keeping particular demographic
populations disadvantaged by identifying them as less worthy of credit,
education, job opportunities, parole, etc.

Now the organizations and businesses
that make those decisions can point to the authority of the algorithm and so
shut down any possible discussion that question the decision. In that way, big
data can be misused to increase inequality. As algorithms are not created in a
vacuum but are born of minds operating in a human context that already has some
set assumptions, they actually can extend the reach of human biases rather than
counteract them.

I spoke with the foundation’s VP of Technology Innovation, John Bracken about its
partnership with the MIT Media Lab and the Berkman Klein Center for Internet
& Society as well as other individuals and organizations to create a $27
million fund for research in this area.

The idea is to open the way to “bridging”
together “people across fields and nations” to pull together a range of
experiences and perspectives on the “social impact” of the development of
artificial intelligence. As AI is on the road “to impact every aspect of human
life,” it is important to think about sharping policies for the “tools to be built” and how they are
to be implemented.

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This is not an exhaustive list. It was inspired by a quick look at a company profile on Google +. I used to follow that company but just stopped because it clearly is not paying attention to its own posts. It was guilty of all 3 of these:

1. You only post self-promotion and nothing else.2. You don't respond to any of the comments on your posts, including those with direct questions.3. You have one guy post "Thanks a lot, [profile name]" on each post, which just makes it look like you hired someone not very bright to comment.

In other words, #DoingItWrongIf you have any other signs of doing social media wrong, please write them in the comments!

On December 18, 2015, President Obama signed off on the 2,000 plus page omnibus budget bill, that amounted to spending $1.8 trillion in a combination of government allocation and tax breaks. Among the items packed into this gargantuan package is the Cybersecurity Act of 2015, also known as the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act (CISA). Set to stay in effect until September 30, 2025, it's a bill that will keep on giving for a decade. But not all regard it as a gift.
The bill had some vociferous opposition, most notably from the group called Fight for the Future. As late as December 16, the organization appealed for a veto on the law. Its campaign director, Evan Greer, declared that the bill is "a disingenuous attempt to quietly expand the U.S. government's surveillance programs, and it will inevitably lead to law enforcement agencies using the data they collect from companies through this program to investigate, prosecute, and incarcerate more people, deepening injusti…

I've written for a content mill known as Examiner.com for years. The pay was exceedingly low, amounting to somewhere around $100 a year, but I had a lot of freedom and so wrote some of what I would have included on one of my personal blogs (not this one) in any case.

However, it's time to cut the content mill out of my life because there is no way I will agree to its new terms. Note that point #2 absolves them from any formula for payment -- even that fraction of a penny per view that it used to use and that #7 amounts to selling (for no specified amount other than the possibility of "exposure") the use of your work forever after to Examiner.

“EXAMINERS” INDEPENDENT CONTRACTOR AGREEMENT AND LICENSE
Important - Read Carefully: This Examiners Independent Contractor Agreement and License (“Agreement”) is a legal agreement between you and AXS Digital Media Group, LLC d/b/a Examiner.com (“Examiner.com”) regarding the content you may choose to provide as an “Examiner,” as…